|
�Billy?�
�Mmm?�
Dom scooted closer and plucked a piece of fuzz off Billy�s hobbit trousers. �Would you still be my best friend if I gained four hundred pounds and couldn�t walk because of my crippling obesity and you had to push me around in a huge wheelchair everywhere, even to the toilet?�
Billy made no verbal response, but he did pick up his hanging head and place it on Dom�s shoulder.
�Would you still be my best friend if I smelled strongly of sulfur and methane and nobody else in the entire world would get within ten metres of me and whenever you�d hang out with me, you�d stink by association and you�d have to shower at least eight times before people would talk to you again?�
�Shhhhhh,� said Billy.
�Would you still��
�Shu� up, Dom,� mumbled Billy, who snuggled in closer.
�But this next one�s important.�
�No s�no�.�
Dom rubbed at his eye a little (it itched from the allergies) and tried to glance at Billy, a manoeuvre which stuck his cheek into the midst of the Pippin wig. �Is,� Dom insisted, then poked Billy in the side of his stomach.
Billy squealed��Eehy!��and jerked away. But he lost the strength to remain sitting as an independent entity; his head fell back onto Dom�s shoulder with a soft �plt.�
Dom tickled Billy again until he wakened more fully. With a growl, Billy grabbed Dom�s wrists and pinned them onto the bench between them.
�Take a nap, Dom. Or go off and� leave.�
�I have to ask you something.�
Billy threatened Dom with a groggily fierce look, but he released Dom�s arms; Billy yawned widely, like a cat, then shrugged into a slouch and dropped his chin to his chest.
�Would you still be my best friend if I told you I fell in� love� nevermind. I�ll ask you later.�
Billy raised his head again. Blinked forward at nothing.
And he lay back on Dom�s shoulder, but this time he wrapped his arms around Dom�s waist and snuggled in extra-close. |
|